New Systems (Just Completed, In Progress, or Preparing to Start)

A. C2C (Concept to Contract) Electronic Bid Letting module: SDDOT was able to eliminate several paper plan sets by utilizing electronic bidding. Contractors are now required to bid online instead of bidding on paper. All plan sets are available in downloadable PDF format prior to opening the project for bid. Several training sessions were held with contractors prior the release of the software. A mock bid was held a few weeks before going live to allow any last minute problems to surface and to allow contractors a chance to become familiar with the process.

B. C2C Scheduling module: This module will replace the current scheduling system. The new scheduling module runs on PCs instead of the mainframe. The scheduling module is based on Primavera project management software and works in conjunction with the STIP (Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan).

C. C2C Funding module: This module tracks various financial reports and statistics such as obligation authority, highway funding, construction billing, work authorizations, and agreement numbers. Development is currently being done on the Funding module and is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

D. Kiosks at Rest Areas: Enhancements to SDDOT’s Rest Area kiosks provide information on Amber Alerts. The Amber Alert messages are automatically sent to each kiosk in the event of an Amber Alert providing law enforcement another avenue to post information to the traveling public.
The kiosks at the rest areas are now linked to SDDOT web pages. Travelers can view such things as location of road construction, and weather and road conditions. Now, if the Amber Alert web site is activated, the information will automatically be the first thing displayed on the kiosks.

E. Highway Maintenance Report: A new highway maintenance report identifies maintenance costs by lane mile by region allowing identification of maintenance best practices. The report shows the number of lane miles and maintenance costs by lane mile for each DOT Area and Region. This information provides engineers with a comparison of the maintenance cost per mile between the 12 DOT Areas and 4 Regions. This will enable best practices to be recognized as well as identify differences in maintenance procedures.

F. New Construction Contracts System: The new contract system eliminates numerous spreadsheets, duplicate data entry and outdated technology. The old system was written in a language that was no longer supported. In addition to the technology refresh, enhancements were added to improve navigation, display a scanned image of the contract, eliminate duplicate data entry, and add new data fields so that supplemental spreadsheets will no longer be needed.

G. Managing Property Damages: By supplementing the current Accounts Receivable software package from Great Plains, SDDOT was able to eliminate several different excel spread sheets that were used to track accidents that caused damage to DOT maintained property. Since the Great Plains package cannot be customized to handle all property damage information, the damages are assessed and tracked on excel spreadsheets, then certain information is entered manually again into Great Plains. The new program will save time and effort for several reasons. First of all, the basic “account information” will only need to be entered once. That information used to be entered three different times. New management reports will also give a better picture of the status of all property damage accounts. The new program will keep track of the dates when late notices should be and are sent, and allows for comments to be entered. The possibility of an account “slipping through the cracks” has been eliminated. Although SDDOT is currently utilizing this new functionality only for property damages, it may be useful for other Account Receivable functions in the future.

H. Web enabled Equipment Management reports: The new equipment reports provide decision making information timely and accessible through the Internet. DOT Region offices can now view various Equipment Management reports on the Web eliminating the need to create excel spreadsheets by central office Finance staff and distribute them via email. One use of the reports is to assist the Parts rooms when ordering parts. Region engineers use the reports to assist when making decisions about equipment replacement.

I. A new Right of Way Relocation system: Eliminating unsupported technology and simplifying the system allowed a new VB.NET application to consolidate many screens in the old ROW Relocation System. This makes it easier to manage the Relocation information. Reports are now automatically run and delivered via email. Data and functionality that was no longer used has been removed, and the database structure has been improved.

J. Enhanced the Environmental System: The new enhancements to SDDOT Environmental System include the ability to track more detailed Storm Water Inspection and Permit Information.
Each DOT construction project must have a Storm Water Permit. This system tracks those permits throughout the construction project while multiple inspections are performed. The inspections are performed so that the DOT personnel can get a better picture of what the contractors are doing to prevent storm water sediment erosion damage and to determine if there are areas where improvement is needed in order to implement Best Management Practices (BMPs). Also, the system can now track Notice of Intent (NOI) and Notice of Termination (NOT) permits between DOT and DENR (Department of Environmental and Natural Resources).

K. Automated fuel system from EJ Ward: The customized EJ Ward system allows more accurate tracking of fuel transactions. SDDOT supplies fuel (gas and diesel) for all state agencies, many cities and county vehicles. The old Mega Trak system was unreliable, and some transactions would be lost. When fuel transactions are lost, the DOT cannot bill the correct government entity for that fuel and therefore would have to absorb that cost. Many new reports provided by the EJ Ward system are also available on the Internet.

L. Finance reports online: Putting various financial reports online eliminates the need for SDDOT staff to print and mail the details, saving staff time and mailing costs. This is an ASP.NET application that allows any of SDDOT Finance's customers to login to a secure internet website and view all their bill details in Excel format. Staff was previously printing out all the supporting details and sending them out with the bills, but for some customers, the number of pages was anywhere from 100-300. Not only was this time-consuming and expensive (paper-wise), it made it difficult for the customer to analyze the data themselves. Now that the website is available, the customer can download and save the data in Excel format to a location of their choice and analyze as desired. The Finance office no longer has to run queries each month and send them out the all their customers. The customers can access the details at anytime as needed, regardless of their billing volume.

M. New Map shows Accident Clusters by Intersection: Dangerous intersections can now be identified at a glance. Previously, the old maps showed one dot as an accident location. If 10 accidents occurred at the same location, the map still showed only one dot. Now, analysis is done to determine the number of accidents at each location, and the volume of accidents is indicated by circles of different sizes and colors. The circles gradually get larger as the number of accidents increase. The maps and the data used to create the maps are shared with local governments and anyone who is concerned about traffic safety.

N. Data Extract: A data extract process was created so that engineers can better identify sections of highway that need attention. The extract provides engineers a quicker way to conduct in depth analysis of Rut Depth and Roughness data. SDDOT can also use this information to evaluate the quality of the work done by construction contractors. This data extract saves DOT staff time by replacing several excel spreadsheets where considerable manual data manipulation was required.

O. RSI (Roadway Safety Inventory): A new RSI report was created to show accident statistics by City and County. This new report saves staff time when fielding questions from city and county governments. This report also can be used by SDDOT staff to spot potentially dangerous locations and identify them as candidate construction projects.

P. Cash Forecasting System: A process was developed to collect more current and accurate financial information. This process allows better planning for the funding of future construction projects and saves Project Development staff over 40 man hours of work per year.